Trivia Tidbit of the Day: Part 783 -- Spending, Not Tax Cuts, The Problem.

Spending Out Of Control-

Recent government spending patterns were one of the reasons America threw the Republicans out of office. The additional ratcheting up of spending is one of the main reasons Americans are likely to throw the Democrats out of office in 2010 and 2012.

From 1984 through 2009, federal tax revenues averaged 18.3 percent of GDP while spending averaged 20.7 percent of GDP, for a typical annual budget deficit of 2.4 percent of GDP. (Nobody said we were angels in the past, either.)

Over the next 25 years, however, the CBO projects that tax revenues will increase to 19.9 percent of GDP. That’s equivalent to raising all federal taxes by about 9 percent. And this is under CBO’s “alternative fiscal scenario,” which assumes that the Bush tax cuts are extended and the Alternative Minimum Tax is indexed to reduce its intrusion on the middle class. Without these assumptions, tax revenues would rise even higher.

The real driver of the fiscal gap is rising federal spending, which will increase from an average of 20.7 percent of GDP over the last 25 years to 25.3 percent of GDP over the next quarter-century. That’s a 22 percent increase, for anyone who’s counting. Most of this spending increase will be driven by Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid as the Baby Boomers retire, the population ages, and healthcare spending rises.

Someone has to tell the truth on this. The truth is not pleasant. America is fiscally overpromised-- committed to far too much spending, much of which operates on auto pilot.